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General Conference on Weights and Measures to abolish leap seconds
The General Conference on Weights and Measures, meeting in Versailles, has decided to abolish the practice of adding leap seconds to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) system. Starting May 20, 2027, new rules will take effect to simplify time management and eliminate technical disruptions caused by sudden adjustments.
The reform addresses the discrepancy between atomic time, which relies on highly stable atomic clocks, and astronomical time, which is based on the Earth's rotation. Since 1972, 27 leap seconds have been added to prevent these two scales from diverging by more than 0.9 seconds. However, the sudden introduction of an extra second has caused malfunctions in sensitive digital infrastructures, including data centers, telecommunications networks, satellite navigation systems, and electrical grids.
Recent observations show that the Earth's rotation speed has become increasingly variable, with some days being shorter than the standard 24 hours. This variability has raised concerns about the potential need for 'negative' leap seconds, which would require removing time, further complicating synchronization efforts.
Entities
Coordinated Universal Time · Earth · General Conference on Weights and Measures · Versailles
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The new rules for Coordinated Universal Time will take effect on May 20, 2027. www.ilialive.gr · omegalive.com.cy · www.gazzetta.gr
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Earth's rotation speed has become more variable in recent years. acnews.hu
- [● 4 SOURCES] The General Conference on Weights and Measures decided to abolish leap seconds. www.ilialive.gr · acnews.hu · omegalive.com.cy · www.gazzetta.gr
- [● 3 SOURCES] Since 1972, 27 leap seconds have been added to the timekeeping system. www.ilialive.gr · acnews.hu · www.gazzetta.gr
- [● 2 SOURCES] Leap seconds have caused malfunctions in data centers, telecommunications, and satellite navigation. www.ilialive.gr · www.gazzetta.gr